St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - Minnesota’s jobless rate has dipped below 3 percent for the first time in more than two decades.

The monthly jobs report from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development indicates the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate slipped a tenth a point from December to only 2.9 percent in January. This is the first time the jobless rate has dipped below 3 percent since 1999.

Minnesota gained 10,200 jobs in the last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to numbers released today. The jobs growth from December 2021 to January 2022 is the largest single-month growth since July 2021. The private sector gained 9,100 jobs, up 0.4%, continuing a four-month-long job gains streak.

“Today’s job numbers show great momentum at a critical time in our economy,” DEED Commissioner Steve Grove said. “And a jump in labor force participation shows that efforts to connect job seekers with great jobs are succeeding. We remain laser-focused on helping businesses and workers connect at a time of historically large workforce shortages across every industry.”

Over the month in Minnesota, two supersectors lost jobs, and nine gained jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in January 2022.

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Minnesota lost 417,600 jobs from February through April 2020 and has since gained 296,800 jobs as of January 2022, or 71% of the jobs lost on a seasonally adjusted basis. The private sector has regained 75% of the jobs lost.

The Rochester area saw an increase of 4,131 jobs year-over-year from January of 2021 to January 2022, a 3.5 percent increase.

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